


A Prideful Day

by Chaos_By_Cam99



Category: Arthur (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27598676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos_By_Cam99/pseuds/Chaos_By_Cam99
Summary: Mr. Ratburn has a great idea for a special field trip.
Relationships: Nigel Ratburn/Patrick
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	A Prideful Day

The school bell rang and the students filed out of the classroom on that warm summer day. Mr. Ratburn sat at his desk finishing some work and they went by. 

"Hey, what's that?" Mr. Ratburn looked up to see Buster pointing to a colorful flyer under his elbow. 

"Oh, that's just for a parade Patrick and I are planning to attend this weekend." A few of the kids stopped and turned around. 

"A parade! I love parades!" Muffy bounced over to the desk and grabbed the flyer. She read the text out loud.

"Ellwood City's seventh annual pride parade. What's that mean?" Mr. Ratburn became a little flustered as his students waited for him to answer.

"Well Muffy, it means that it's a parade about celebrating who you are. About being proud of yourself and the ones you love." Everyone muttered excitedly. 

"I wanna go to the parade!" Francine blurted out. All the kids happily agreed. Muffy looked at the flyer again. 

"It's downtown on Saturday. Looks like it starts at noon." The kids started talking excitedly about the parade, when Mr. Ratburn got an idea.

"You know what class, I think that's an excellent idea. In fact, we could make it a field trip. This will be a fun and interesting experience for you all. I'll need to print up some permission slips and a list of essentials for the day, but I believe you'll all learn something important." The class cheered and exited the room. Mr. Ratburn got up and began to head for home. 

Later that evening Patrick walked into the house. The sound of the door alerted Nigel. Patrick came in to see his husband hard at work on the computer. He walked over and placed a sweet kiss on Nigel's forehead. 

"Hi honey, what are you working on?" Mr. Ratburn barely looked up from the screen. 

"Just typing up a permission slip for the students, along with a small list of parade essentials." 

"Parade essentials?" Nigel finally turned around and stood up. 

"The kids saw the flyer I had for the pride parade this weekend and all decided they wanted to go. I thought it would be a great opportunity to educate them about the community." Patrick smiled at the excitement in his husband's voice. 

"That does sound like a good idea Nigey, and I'll be happy to help chaperone, since I'll be there with you anyways." Nigel pulled Patrick into his arms and kissed him deeply. 

"You're the best Pat." Patrick chuckled and put his forehead against Nigel's.

"I know." The two shared a laugh. 

"Have you eaten yet? I picked up some Korean food on the way home." As if on que, Mr. Ratburn's stomach rumbled. 

"That sounds perfect, dear." The two happily went into the kitchen for dinner. 

The next day at school, Mr. Ratburn placed a permission slip and a list on each of the student's desks. Everyone looked really excited. 

"Alright class, I'll need these permission slips in by Friday if you want to go to the parade. It's very important your parents read this and understand what we're doing." Muffy raised her hand.

"I told my parents about the parade yesterday during dinner. My mom says she'll volunteer to help chaperone." Mr. Ratburn smiled.

"That's wonderful news Muffy. Yes, if your parents would be interested in attending as well, please have them contact me after school so I can get a headcount on everyone." Everyone muttered in agreement and class began. 

Soon enough it was time for lunch. The kids all sat together to talk about the parade. 

"My dad thinks it's a great idea to go. He says that it'll be a good way to learn about being a good person." Arthur said happily. Buster nodded.

"My mom is covering the parade for the newspaper and that's what she told me to." 

"I did a little research last night and found some pictures from previous pride parades." Brain held up his phone to show everyone. The pictures were super colorful and everyone looked really happy. Francine squinted at the picture. 

"What's that in the background? Looks like someone is yelling." Brain looked at his phone and enlarged the picture. 

"It seems like someone is angry. Maybe they got into an argument?" Everyone was confused. 

"Let's ask Mr. Ratburn when we get back to class, he'll probably know." Everyone agreed. When they all got back to class, Brain went up to Mr. Ratburn. 

"Excuse me, Mr. Ratburn. We were looking at some pictures from older parades and we noticed something. Why is this person in the back yelling? They look really mad." Mr. Ratburn took a good look at the picture, then his face fell. 

"Oh dear, I nearly forgot about…" The students were concerned seeing their teacher suddenly so sad. Mr. Ratburn took a deep breath and stood in front of the class. 

"Well, since we'll be attending a pride parade this weekend, I believe it will do you all well to have a basic understanding of the community this event represents. Both the good...and the bad." Everyone watched quietly for Mr. Ratburn to continue. 

"You see children, the angry person yelling in the picture, is a protester." Muffy raised her hand.

"Protester? But what are they protesting? Nobody's doing anything wrong." Mr. Ratburn stiffened a bit.

"You're right Muffy, but that's not how they see it. It's likely you'll see some people like this at the parade Saturday. To them, us being there is wrong." Everyone was even more confused. 

"This parade is a special event for people like Patrick and I to feel good about who we are. But the truth is, some people don't think that's okay. They don't want us to be proud." A few students gasped. Arthur raised his hand. 

"But that doesn't make sense. Why would people not want you to be happy? That's really mean." Mr. Ratburn took another breath. 

"Yes Arthur, it is. These people believe that two men or two women shouldn't be allowed to be in love, or get married. They believe we should feel bad about who we are, not proud." Francine quickly stood up.

"That's not fair! You didn't do anything to them. It's not their business how you live your life anyways." Mr. Ratburn gestured for the girl to sit back down. 

"You're right, it's not their business. However, these people believe that they have to tell us these things. They think if they yell loud enough, we'll stop loving each other." Some of the kids were looking upset now. Buster raised his hand. 

"But, why would they feel that way? Why would they want to be so hateful?" A lump caught in Mr. Ratburn's throat, but he calmed down. 

"Well Buster, they probably learned it from their parents, and they learned it from their parents, and so on. This type of thing is always learned. That's why I'm so happy you all wanted to go and see the parade. It's important for you to learn that hating others just because they're different from you is wrong, and everyone deserves to live happily and be with who they love." The class cheered. Mr. Ratburn felt himself calming down more. Binkey raised his hand. 

"If I see one of those protesters I'll give them a good knock out." Mr. Ratburn shook his head. 

"No Binkey, you can't do that. As much as we don't like it, by law these people have the right to voice their opinions." Binkey looked annoyed. 

"Now, we're going to do a special history lesson about the riots that started the tradition of these parades." The class went on with everyone paying much more attention than usual. After the bell rang everyone hurried home. Just as he was getting in his car, Mr. Ratburn's phone went off. He looked to see it was Patrick calling. 

"Hello Patrick, I'm just about to get on the road, can this wait?" 

"Sorry Nigel, really quick. I want you to come by the shop and help me with something." 

"Oh, alright then, I'll be there soon." 

"Great, love you."

"Love you to." Mr. Ratburn made his way down to Patrick's chocolate shop. When he entered Patrick gestured for him to follow behind the counter. 

"Glad you came so fast. I had an idea. I want to make a special pride themed chocolate for the children as a treat at the parade." Nigel smiled. 

"Pat, that's a wonderful idea. I'm sure they'll absolutely love it." Patrick grinned and moved over to his chocolate molds. 

"Now I just need to figure out what to make. Maybe a bunch of different flags? No, too confusing. Just rainbows maybe? But then it won't be so special. Hmm…" Nigel chuckled a bit and gave Patrick a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'm sure you'll think of something perfect, dear. Now, do you want me to mind the shop while you work?" Patrick nodded. 

"Yes please. I have a customer coming to pick up a big baby shower order." Nigel gave a thumbs up and went up front while Patrick continued talking to himself. A few hours later the two were in the car heading home. 

"Do you want to stop and get something?" Nigel thought for a moment. 

"We do have that leftover mac and cheese in the fridge. Should probably eat it before it goes bad." Patrick shrugged. 

"Sounds good to me. I just need something in my stomach." Nigel rolled his eyes.

"Well that's what you get for working so late." Patrick smirked, looking at his husband. 

"You are not allowed to lecture me about working too late. I've nearly had to drag you to bed before." The two laughed. 

A couple more days pass. There are six parent volunteers coming along, the carpools are set, permission slips are all handed in, parade essentials are packed, and fun pride outfits are on. It's finally time to head for downtown and the pride parade. Nigel and Patrick pull up just as most of the class does. All the kids run over to him, but keep looking over at where a small festival is finishing setting up. Everything looks so colorful and fun and everyone is bouncing. 

"Alright class, I hope everyone is ready for the big day." The kids cheer.

"You all remember my husband Patrick. He's going to be helping me today." Patrick waved happily. 

"Hello everyone. I'm really glad you all wanted to come out today. This is going to be so much fun." The kids cheered again. 

Finally the rest of the kids and parents showed up and Mr. Ratburn leads the way into the festival.


End file.
